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01-22-2011, 05:04 PM   #1
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Battery Indicator

I've been a Pentaxian since the 1970s and still have a Honeywell Pentax and a Pentax Spotmatic + some nice extra lenses. I also have a K100D Super which I liked a lot until today. I put in fresh batteries and got a "low battery" display. Of course, the camera won't power up. I took fresh batteries out of my Canon S3, which was working fine, and put them in the Super and still got the "low battery" display. Tried a third set of new batteries and no luck. This camera has maybe 150 clicks thru it over the 3 yrs I've had it. Is there any way to get around sending this back to a "factory fix", (out of warranty), where they'll charge me as much or more than what the camera is worth? Bad vibes here. If I have to send this for a factory repair, I'll switch out to another brand as an upgrade. Canon and Nikon certainly come to mind. The good thing is, I'll have some lenses for sale, cheap. By the way, this camera has never been dropped or been exposed to bad weather. Nobody gets to use it but me. Why only 150 clicks? The S3 is versatile and takes as good a picture about 80-90% of the time. When I wanted the extra 10% the Super took superior shots. Advice? Is there a trick to fix it that I'm missing?

01-22-2011, 08:20 PM   #2
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Put fresh charge batteries in it and leave them there for a couple of days. After a few days put fresh batteries in the camera and try again. This should recharge the back-up battery on the CPU board.
01-22-2011, 08:21 PM   #3
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Try this, get Energizer Lithium`s and load them up. If still broken then consider getting one of the better camera brands.
01-22-2011, 09:53 PM   #4
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dhoop,

Check that the battery terminals of the camera are clean.

Mickey

01-23-2011, 08:38 AM   #5
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I had fresh charged Sanyo 2700 NiMH in before I got on this site & after reading gp1806's suggestion, checked back to the Super. It is showing signs of life; the top LCD is giving out info again but isn't quite fully restored. Since I have several sets of NiMH baterries in charging rotation, I'll keep using these. I will keep Ex Finn's suggestion in reserve as I know the lithium batteries have a bit more zap. But I am not in a big rush, so I think the NiMH will do. Will keep you posted and thanks. To mickeyobe....terminals are like new. I tend to closely watch the terminals in all my battery powered devices here in the FL humidity. Never hurts to be reminded, tho. Thanks. If it all works out, I'll go back to saving up for a K5.
01-23-2011, 09:41 AM   #6
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I've had battery issues on three different cameras - 2 *ist DLs and and an *ist DS. None of three wouldn turn on with various sets of rechargeables and new "regular" cells (Duracells and Energizers).

Just for grins, I tried Eneloops - all three cameras worked like a charm. Don't know what it is about the 'loops, but the cameras loved 'em!!

My .02.
01-23-2011, 10:44 AM   #7
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I believe Eneloop`s have very low internal resistance. This in turn enables them to handle high peak current demand, without a big voltage droop.

01-25-2011, 03:59 PM   #8
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Battery Mysteries

My take on batteries is that double AA's suffer from numerous problems in cameras. Some have to do with design, others with poor manufacturing. I tried to keep up with changing battery technology since buying my first ist but it has been a headache While I have never used batteries like the hybrid Einloops. I have attempted to use several others. The main lesson is to try and "trick" them into use. Take the in then take them out. Leave them in for day. Don't ever leave them in for a day. In other words play with them and provide them with attention like your pets. However the best advice I can give anyone is to toss your recharger in the trash and get a fancy recharger like the Lacross units which will trick out and play with your batteries so you dont have to do it. Or get yourself a PHd in chemistry, no?
01-29-2011, 07:39 AM   #9
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Sigh, the frustration of using AA batteries... I feel ya!

Makes me wanna upgrade my K100D to a K-r and enjoy the best of both worlds.
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